It's About ME: Innovation

The Mariemont Experience is about Innovation. The district goal is that student achievement will increase through rigorous curriculum design, instructional best practices and purposeful environments that maximize learner autonomy and capacity to thrive in the 21st century. The 21st century is now, so we are constantly looking for new and outside-the-box processes, programs and opportunities to offer to district students and teachers.

Technology is essential to enhance teaching and learning. The district has been developing and implementing initiatives for digital teaching and learning for nearly a decade. Professional development for teachers and targeted digital instruction for students have provided us with an excellent foundation for moving beyond one-to-one instruction to embrace a one-to-one world environment for learning, giving students a competitive edge in a global market. Read about how one teacher is helping students master 21st century skills, concepts and applications here.

Kindergarten students have daily access to iPads, with individual iPad usage starting in first grade. After third grade, each student is required to own or rent a computer device, allowing individualized access to global information, learning opportunities and apps in seconds. Last school year, the district provided over 1200 computer devices to students, which they used in some capacity in every classroom. Read about how one teacher incorporates technology into the learning experience here.

Technology is incorporated into instruction in every way imaginable, creating unique learning experiences for each student and unique teaching experiences for each instructor. Students create songs in music production classes, animation in digital arts classes and movies in language arts classes. To date, there are more than 650 student- or teacher-created videos uploaded to Warrior Watch, which is the is a video and audio hosting and sharing site that is used exclusively by our school district students, teachers and administrators. Students are given the opportunity to be the technology experts as members of student tech teams, and they shape the district’s future in the field innovation by providing feedback through forums such as the Student Curriculum Committee. Read about how one student uses technology here.

But innovation in education and learning is so much more than the utilization and inclusion of technology. The district also offers students the opportunity to enroll in the High School of Business Program, a national satellite program of the Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development for high school and college marketing and business students. Last school year, 14 Mariemont City School District students participated in and earned 13 of 25 Golden Ribbon awards at the Cincinnati Regional Invention Convention Competition, which inspires students to create and problem solve while developing their inventions.

We also realize the nature in which our world is shrinking. The district consistently strives to enhance student learning through the creation of purposeful, safe physical and virtual learning environments and efficient district operations that promote innovation and global experiences. With this global economy, workplace and sharing of ideas, basic understanding and acceptance of cultures, languages and norms separate from one’s own is essential. In the Mariemont City School District, Spanish enrichment starts in the 2nd grade, and then Spanish is part of the curriculum for every student in grades 3-7. Read about one teacher engages students to actively learn a world language here. Spanish, Latin and German are offered in classrooms at the high school, while other languages are offered online through Middlebury Interactive Languages. Ninety-three percent of last year’s graduating class took two or more years of a world language course.